Lacrosse goalie stick heads are well known in the game of lacrosse. Lacrosse goalie stick heads are used by goalies and are larger than the heads used by other players to assist in keeping the lacrosse ball out of the net the goalie is protecting. Current lacrosse goalie stick head designs typically take the form of an open frame having a top traverse wall, a base with a concave interior surface that defines a ball rest, and a pair of sidewalls that diverge from the base to the top traverse wall. The top traverse wall, the base, and the sidewalls are integrally formed into a unitary solid body or head frame. The base is integrally formed with a throat portion. The throat portion has a female end socket formed therein for receiving a conventional stick handle.
The head, base, and/or throat portion of current lacrosse goalie stick heads have holes therein for stringing lace therethrough to form netting on a backside of the head frame, as is known to one skilled in the art. A front side of the head frame has an open area to receive a lacrosse ball therein. The female end socket and the throat portion define a handle/head axis, which typically although not necessarily forms the central axis and/or an axis of lateral symmetry of the head. The central axis defines a plane through the center of the head. The plane lies parallel to the centerline of the lacrosse stick.
The sidewalls of current lacrosse goalie stick heads lie generally perpendicular to the axis and have a stiffening rib formed in the sidewalls to provide the requisite strength. The rib is typically formed at about the midpoint of the sidewall and only extends slightly outwardly from the sidewall. Additionally, some lacrosse goalie sticks have sidewalls that are angled slightly outward in an attempt to facilitate entry of the lacrosse ball into the head. Current non-goalie lacrosse heads are similar in configuration to current lacrosse goalie stick heads. The stiffening ribs of some non-goalie lacrosse heads also extend slightly outwardly from the plane of the lacrosse ball, however, they similarly are not intended to deflect or otherwise contact a lacrosse ball.
A lacrosse goalie in his/her role as defender of a lacrosse goal, has two main purposes, one is to prevent incoming lacrosse balls from entering the goal by catching and controlling them, and two, to deflect incoming balls that are not caught and prevent them from entering the goal. It would therefore be desirable to provide improvements to the goalie's lacrosse head that would increase the goalie's ability to successfully deflect or control the incoming lacrosse balls.